Corset-clasp.



A. MALSIN.

CORSET CLASP.

APPLICATION msn JUNE 9.1916.

Patented July 16, 1918.

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'rn s'rns ALBERT MALSIN, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

CORSET-CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1918.

Application filed June 9, 1916. Serial No. 102,626.

To all lwhom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Alnn'r MALSIN, a citizen of the United States, andresident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset-Clasps, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had herein tothe accompanying drawing.

My present invention has reference to a clasp or fastening device forcorsets and other similar garments or other articles. The object is tofurnish a clasp or fastener, all of the hooks or connections of whichcan be simultaneously and instantaneously released by the action of thevarious parts so that the corset may be readily unfastened and removed.Other objects will appear in the course of the description of theconstruction and relative arrangement of the various parts. Theinvention therefore consists essentially in a corset clasp or fastenerhaving several interengaging members all of which are capable of beingsimultaneously released by the action of certain of the parts; and italso comprises numerous details and peculiarities in the construction,arrangement, and combination of the various parts and mechanicalelements, substantially as will be hereinafter described and then moreparticularly pointed out in the claims. y

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved corset clasp or fastenerwith the various parts engaged in the position that they take when thecorset is fastened together.

Fig. 2 is a detail front elevation of the upper part of the same deviceshowing the members of one pair of clasping features disengaged fromeach other to illustrate more fully the precise construction of thevarious parts.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3, 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line e, a of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a partial elevational View of the upper end of the claspingdevice with the members of one pair of clasping features in engagementwith each other, and illustrates a modification of the invention.

Fig. 6 is an edge View in partial section on the line 6, 6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical detail section of the engaging ends ofthe two members of one eye part.

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan similar to Fig. 4 of amodied form oftheinvention.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe different figures of the drawing.

In referring to my invention in corset clasps I have particularreference to a fastening device whose function it commonly is to connecttogether the meeting edges of the front of a corset. It will be readilyseen that the device is applicable to other garments and articles ofwearing apparel.

Such a fastener ordinarily comprises a steel` or metallic strip on oneedge of the corset having pins or catch devices forengaging eye memberscarried by a steel or other strip on the adjoining edge of the corset,the pins or catch devices being inserted into all of the eyes oftheseries so that the meeting edges of the corset may be brought togetherneatly and effectively from top to bottom, but the procedure of causingthe series of pins to engage the eyes is one attended with considerabledifficulty, especially if a corset is tightly laced, and thedisengagement of the same is equally laborious and troublesome. Itherefore provide an improved mechanism for these features so that theseveral eyes of the series ofreyes may be simultaneously opened andthusthe engaging pins on the other edge of the corset quickly releasedall at once so that the corset may be promptly openedby one single swiftmovement of certain mechanical members which thus open all the eyes andrelease the pins, the easy retraction of the edges from each other whenthis takes place being eX edited and assisted by the ekpan.n sion of t esections of the corset which ena sues as soon as the clasping featuresare disengaged.

In explaining the detailed construction of the parts of my .improvedclasp, it will be seen that a strip of steel or other metal or material3 is attached to one edge of the corset structure, the attachment beingmade in any suitable manner, as for instance' by sewing the steel 3 tothe fabric of thevcorset through the use of perforations 20 in the endsof part 3 andat other points desired. Overlying the steel 3 and slidablethereon is a similar strip of steel orl other metal or Ina--I terial 6which slides easily on the steel 3, being guided by the bent-over edges4of steel 3 Which furnish Ways for the' 4strip 6, as clearly shoivn inFigs; 2 and 4. These guides 4 are disconti'nufu's,` appearing only atinter vals in order that they' may not materially affect the fleibilityf the'pmember's 3 and 6. In lieu of the bent edges 4 I may substituteother guides if desired, as for exampleV the pins 18- fixed in thestrips 3y and projecting through slots 17 in the outer steel 6, saidpins being headed and said pins and slots being preferably staggered, asindicated in Fig. 5*, so that they may be near the edges of the membersand thus may hold the surfaces of the members 3 and 4 more closelytogether than they might do if these slots Iand pins vvere lcated,central-ly.- Other forms orf guides for enabling the strip 6I to slideeasily back and forth upon the strip 3 may be devised and substituted ifdesired, and I Wish to cover broadly the idea. of so arranging these twostrips relativeto each other that .the outer ene may slide easily uponthe inner one. At the upper end of the outer strip 6 isa catch 8 pivotedt6 strip 6 at 9 and having a 'snap button 10 thatl passes through anpening 19 in the members 3 and 6 as indi= cated in Fig..3 f'o'r thepurpose of holding the tivo members in a relatively predeter; 'minedposition and preventing the outer one fim sliding out of position. Theend of the atch is slightly bent so that it may be easily grasped forthe purpose of Withdravv= ing the member 10 from the opening 19, afterwhich, by using the catch 8 as a handle, the strip 6 can be slid up anddown upon the strip 3. Of course it is very necessary to have the button10 or its equivalentV to hold the parts 3 and 6 together, and it is alsoim# portant to' have a handle 8.

At intervals, which may be of greater' or less length, along the edgesof these 'conrbined steel strips 3 and 6 adjoining the edge of thecorset to which they are applied, 'are formed eye 'members thatconstitute part of the clasps, and veach lof these eye members 'consistsof a projection 5 integral with or riveted to thesteel 3 in a horizontalposition and acontigiruus horizontal projection 17 made integral `withor riveted to the outside face of the steel 6. Although these membersare secured to the steel strips 3 and 6 crosswise thereof as I havesaid, yet it is not al- Ways desirable that they should be so shapedthat they Will slide over each other in parallel planes as they areindicated in Fig, 4, but oftentimes it `will be preferable to bend themlslightly at the points Where they leave the strips 3 and 6 so that theprojecting portioii's thereof will lie in the same plane with eachother, so that when the said,y projections 5 and 7 move together theyvvi'll not be offset from each other but Will be directly opposite inthe same vertical plane as indicated in Fig. 8. The opposing edges ofeach pair" of projections 5 and 7 are recessed and shaped so as to forman eye, the projection 5 having a semi'e'circular recess 14 which co=incides with theV semifcircular recess 13k in the projection 7 when theparts are brought together,- see Fig'. 2, and the edges beyond theserecesses 13 and 14 being separated so as to provide a slot 16 havingparallel edges. The outer end of each projection 7 is bent to' form alug 12 Which engages the bent end 11 of the adjacent projection 5 asshown in Fig.` 4, the edges of this lug' 12 being slightly beveled atthe end, see Fig. 7 so as to allow it more easily to slip into therecess in the bent end 11. The bent end 11 is curved to prevent strainon either part 11 or part 12 When they are so engaged. Furthermore, itWill be noted that the Vend 11- is beveledoff at 15 so that the pins onthe other strip may have an easier opportunity for Withdrawal Withoutcatching as I Will presently' explain,- It W'ill be obvious that whenthe slidingsteel 6 is moved back and' forth or up and d ovv'n over thesteel 3 the projections 7 Will be moved back and forth with relation tothe projections 5, and consequently the lugs 12 on the ends of theprojection 7 will engage with and disengage from the ends of theprojections 5, thus forming and unforming the eye menbes along the edgesof, the steels 3 and 6. When the pairs of members 5 and 7 are brought,together to frm the eyes the clasping device Will be as shown in Fig. 1Whereth'e corresponding part 1 of the clasp on the other edge of thecorset can rbe brought into engagement with the eyes for fastening thecorsetl together; J

This other part on the other edge 0f the corset consists of the usualsteel strip` '1 of a length similar kto that ofthe strip 3 and attachedto the'fabric of lthe corset in any desired manner as Eby stitching `orother- Wise, and this steel is furnished at intervals corresponding tothe eyes and located oppo: site thereto with horizontal projections 2consisting of headed pins, the heads'of which will readily 4pass throughthe eyesbut are larger than the slots 16 communicating'vvith said eyesso that While they can be inserted through the eyes they will then bepermitted to pass into the slots 16, and thus the clasping will becii'ected. When the device is in readiness to be used and the eyes arein normal receptive condition, the member 1 with its headed pins 2, thatis to say, the edge of the corset carrying these catch pins, can bebrought close to the other edge and the pins caused to engage the eyemembers as I have already indicated. When so inserted the naturalexpansion of the corset under the pressure of the wearer and due to theeffect of the lacing will obviously cause the headed pins to slip intothe outer ends of slots 16 and be held there firmly so that the corsetwill be tightly fastened together. Vith other corsets as now in commonuse when the headed pins have engaged the eyes thereis often a greatdeal of difficultyin disengaging them on account of the tension of theconnection which makes it necessary to unfasten them individually and isa fatiguing operation. With my improved combination, however, all thatthe wearer needs to do is to disengage the catch 8 and cause the member6 to slide upon the member 3, the result of which will be to separatethe parts that constitute the eyes, that is to say, separate theprojections 7 from the projections 5 by lifting the lugs 12 on the endsof the projections 7 away from the bent ends 11 of the projections 5which will set free all of the headed pins and allow the two edges ofthe corset to immediately separate and permit instant removal. Sometimesat this point in the operation if the pins 2 are riding on the upperedges of the projections 5, the head of the pin being within the bentend 11 of projection 5 might come into contact with the inner wall ofthe recess in end 11 and cause an obstruction to the removal lof the pin2. It is to avoid this possibliity that I Vobliquely cut oif the upperedge of outer part of the bent end 11 at 15, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,so that while the pin is sliding along the upper edge of the projection5, the head of said pin will slip out easily through the opening at 15and the parts will all be readily and quickly disconnected.

I have already indicated that various guiding means for the outer steel6 may be employed and that Fig. 5 shows a modification where staggeredslots are engaged by staggered pins which keep the contacting surfacesof the two parts 3 and 6 close to each other, because the staggered pinsare near the edges of the parts, and said edges are not apt to lift awayfrom each other from warping or other iniuences as might be the case ifthe uide pins were loca-ted alon the central l1ne of the parts 8 and 6.Ft will also be noted that in case the parts 5 and 7 of the eyes shouldnot lie alongside of each other, as shown in Fig. 4f, so as to overlapbut should be placed one above the other in a vertical plane asindicated in Fig. 8 the outer bent end 11 of the projection 5 will haveto be shaped accordingly so that the engaging lug 12 of the proj ection7 might easily drop into the end 11. This can easily be done, however,by slight changes in the form and shape of the parts.

Many changes may be made in the precise construction of the varioussteel or other members, the projections, and other parts, withoutexceeding the scope of my invention and I, therefore, reserve theliberty of modifying and changing the structural details within widelimits so as to secure the best results in practice and make theinvention as useful as possible.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a corset clasp, the combination of a strip having a series ofprojections, a second movable strip having also a series of projectionslocated contiguous to the irst series of projections, said projectionsbeing recessed and the members of each pair havin separated edges toprovide an opening and a communicating slot and means for locking thetwo strips together consisting of a catch pivoted'to one strip andhaving a snap button adapted to pass through coincident openings in thetwo strips for the purpose of holding the latter in a relativelypredetermined position and preventing the outer one from sliding out ofplace, and a strip having headed pins that engage the spaces .betweenthe projections on the aforesaid strips and are released when the latterare opened.

2. In a corset clasp, the combination of a strip having a series ofprojections, a relatively movable strip having also a series ofprojections, said projections having their opposite edges recessed so asto jointly form eyes and the outer ends of certain of the projectionsbeing hooked to receive the curved ends of the adjoining projections,and a strip having pins that engage the eyes and are released when thelatter are opened.

3. In a corset clasp, the combination of a strip having a series ofprojections, a relatively movable strip having also a series ofprojections forming with the other projections a plurality of eyes, theouter ends of one projection of each pair having a curved end, and theouter end of the other projection of the pair having a hooked end toengage said curved end, said curved end having a beveled tip, and astrip having a series of headed pins that engage the eyes and arereleased when the latter are o ened.

4e. In a corset clasp, the ccmbination of a strip having a seriesAofprojectionmn secing a snap button adaptedto pass through ond stripsliding on theJ first and having coincident openings in the two stripsfor the 10 also a series of projections Which form with purposeofholding'the latter in a relatively the other projections a pluralityof eyes, predetermined position and preventing the guides on the firststrip for controlling the Outer one from sliding out of place. movementvof the second strip, and means In testimony whereof Iy hereunto affix myfor locking the two strips together consistsignature. ing of a catchpivotedf to one strip and hav- ALBERT MALSIN.

'Gop'ieu'ot this patentfmny beobtained f or tive cents each, byaddressing. the Commissioner et Patent; Washington, D. C.

